Microsoft's HoloLens development kit to ship on March 30

Microsoft has announced that the development edition of its Hololens “fully untethered holographic computer” is open for pre-order for developer applicants, and will start shipping in the U.S. and Canada on March 30th at a price of US$3,000.

To recap, the HoloLens headset is fully untethered and self-contained, so no markers, external cameras, wires, phones, or PC connections are required. The device consists of multiple environment understanding sensors and it’s powered by a custom-built Microsoft Holographic Processing Unit (HPU) and an Intel 32-bit architecture. It’s this HPU that allows HoloLens to understand gestures and gaze while mapping the world all around you in real time. The HoloLens also supports Bluetooth 4.1, opening up possibilities like the clicker accessory that ships with the device.

HoloLens is a Windows 10 device, and the APIs responsible for holographic computing are already available in the OS. Put simply, holograms are Universal Windows apps and all Universal Windows apps can be made to work on Windows holographic. For developers, this means their holographic apps in the Windows Store can be monetized in the same way as all the other UWP apps.

For those interested to know more, here’s our hands-on with the HoloLens from last May.